December update

Hi,

I can’t believe it is already December!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! : )

A lot has happened in this past month. Life seems to be flying by. I’m sitting in my living room just thinking back to the day I came home and I’m amazed how much God has done in me in just three months. In my last letter I talked about being home for my family. Things are still difficult with them and they are still struggling in their relationships with each other but, I know I have done what I can and said my peace. I  feel released from them because I know that my part is finished. My patience has been tried but, I am better for it. Working with YWAM Modesto has been very fruitful. We are doing a lot of great things in the community. Next week we will start volunteering at a local nursing home. We also go down to Ninth Street every week. It is a very rough neighbourhood and our goal is to just be there for the people who live down there. I think they feel forgotten. We would like to make sure that doesn’t happen. No one should be forgotten. Youth group has been challenging and wonderful at the same time. We had the opportunity to take the youth to Ninth Street for a Christmas “party” and it was lovely! It was cool to see the kids interacting with the homeless and watching their eyes and hearts open to the world around them. God really moved and one of our teens was able to be delivered from a lot of hurt and pain in her life.

Thanksgiving was great. It was so fun to be able to have my boyfriend Joel down. He is such a blessing to me and when he’s around I feel challenged to be better all the time. It has been nice to bring him to my world. I know this sounds silly but, in a way, it makes him seem more real. During the time he was here we got to pray and just be together. We had lots of fun. It was extremely hard to say goodbye, but our time was perfect and we’ll see each other again soon.

Recently I have a strong desire to just love on people. Like when I read the gospels and read how Jesus was to people I just think…I have to be like that. I feel so excited because I have the opportunity to do that every day. I have started to do a kind of bible study with a friend of mine. I never feel happier than when I spend time with God so, it has been great to just get my nose in the word. I have been thinking a lot about my future and what’s important to me. It has taken me three months to figure it out but, I’ve decided I’m going to Canada. Now, I know what you might be thinking…it’s for that boy and, in a way, you are right. I do feel we work better when we are together. Joel is working on pioneering a program called Into the Urban where the goal is to encourage people to give 10-months to living, serving and being a light in Vancouver. How can you teach people or create a program if you haven’t done it yourself? That’s what I would like to be a part of. So, working with Joel to create a model. Jesus disciple after he had gone into the desert not before. I also may have the opportunity to work at a pre-school which is also an YWAM ministry in Vancouver. I love children, so it would seem that this would be a great chance for me to learn and grow in that ministry.  My goal is to be living in Vancouver in April. I am in desperate need for financial support as well as your prayers. Would you be able to support me monthly? It is a commitment and I ask that you be praying about it.  This is a big decision and I have spent many hours in prayer about it and I feel God is in this all the way!

I want to say thank you so much for standing with me and being supportive to the decisions I make in my life and in my mission to follow Jesus. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!  I pray that it is wonderful. : ) Is there anything I can be praying for you about? If so, please write to me!

Many Blessings,

Alexa

Close, but no cigar

It looked like it was going to be a cold day. I woke up and dressed. Preparing for the chill of the morning. It was a normal Friday. I was heading to church to meet the guys and head down to ninth street. We drove up to ninth street like we normally do except today we had about five or six people waiting for us. We had forgot the bread but, we still had hot chocolate, cookies and three garbage bags full of clothes. 

I did like I normally do. Set up tables and chairs, make drinks, chat with our "regulars" and see how they are doing. It was just a normal Friday. As the day went on the California sun came out...so I went and sat in the back of the van to hide from the heat. I noticed a family walk up. I noticed them because they had a young child. She was maybe four. She was one of the most beautiful things I've seen. She was all smiles and giggles. It wasn't normal to see kids that young walking around in that part of town. I don't know why I was so interested in them....

They each had a hot chocolate and a cookie with a bag of chips. I watched as the little girls mother sat down, took a deep breath and stared at the ongoing traffic. I watched as the little girls father looked through the clothes. I watched as the little girl bounced around like life couldn't be better. What snapped me out of my trance and almost brought me to tears was the six words the little girls father said to his wife..."Honey, come Christmas shopping with me." It was such a non-chalant comment...just thrown out there. I felt like I had interrupted a personal moment. I looked away. The family hung around for a bit longer. They walked off with their bags of Christmas gifts and cups of hot chocolate. Mom and Dad on the outside and their daughter between them, all holding hands. I thought it was beautiful. I couldn't help but be reminded of Our Father, His Son, and Holy Spirit. 

My own mother asked me to write my Christmas list this year. She wanted to know what to get me for Christmas. I struggled writing down what I wanted after seeing that family on ninth street. I know we all have different walks of life and I also know I shouldn't feel guilty for having things but, I did feel convicted on what I find importance in. It just struck me, I have all I need...and them some...but there are days that I still complain about not having what I need or what I want. I want to not care what people think of me. I want to be content with what I have because I always have what I need. I want to be satisfied in God. I want to love, and I mean truly love, all the people in my life. 

"i see your true colours and that's why I  love you"

Home and some change

Hello!

It has been a while since my last blog...sorry friends. :) My goal is to have regular monthly updates along with my blog which will hopefully have more personal updates. I have been home from my DTS, at Holmsted Manor in England, for almost two months now. It was truly an amazing experience and God really spoke identity and truth into my life just by loving me. God has also given me a desire to know His word, so over the next few years I will be giving my time to serve the Lord, His people, and to grow in knowledge of God through relationship with Him and through the Bible.

Being home has been a challenge. I really have to take what God taught me while I was away and put it to practice while being home. I have joined YWAM Modesto and will be with them for a season. I have joined them in there mission to be a creative and compassionate community! We partner with local churches and speak about evangelism, poverty, and simple outreach. Through relationships, we do host about 4-5 teams a year. Our aim is to keep the greastest friendship as our priority by serving and giving of ourselves, always. I have also joined with the youth leadership at my home church, New Hope Christian Fellowship. It has been difficult at time and a bit stressful :) As a leader of youth, setting a good example is so important.

Right now I am working and praying about doing missions full time. I need support. Spiritually and finacially. If you would like to receive my regular news letter, and find out more about what I'm up to, please follow the link below!

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Thank you all for your prayers and support!

Many blessings,

Alexa

Revelation

Beauty is the only word I have to describe a sunrise. It's the only word I have to decribe a newborn child. It's the only word I have to describe a healthy relationship. Beauty is a word created by the world. When you hear it, you know whatever a person is describing must be worth seeing. Men will tell you, " There is a difference between a woman when I say she is hot than when I say she is beautiful. " They can't tell you the difference, but we all understand what they mean.

Beautiful is how I described the sunrise in Dahab. The colors that stretched across the sky..the water that sparkled like diamonds..the coolness of the water on my toes. That sunrise is just a wordly image God uses to show Himslef. It shows His glory if you will. He is right there and He does not need us but, it is there for us to see and for us to have. Beauty is just is worldly word used to describe what we see, what our hearts desire. Beauty is a word that does not qualify to be the description of God, but it is all I have. Humans were created because of Gods relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They had so much love for eachother They had to create, They had to share that love. They hade the perfect relationship. Perfect understanding, acceptance, and ackowledgment of eachother. I know now that my own desire for understanding, acknowledgement, and acceptance has been planted in my heart by Jesus.

I always thought something was wrong with me, all my relationships....I thought I needed them and I thought I was dependant on them. It was really my desire to know God, or rather, be known by God. A relationship with a human, like the sunrise shows Gods character, shows a sliver of what it is like to be accpeted, acknowledged, and understood by God. We are stuck in this world until our King returns. The only way He can show us Himself is through what we know and through what He allows us to see....unfortunatley the world is in no way capable of showing Gods true Glory but, it is fitfully showing us "beauty" and showing us that what we desire is something we can not yet have and if we should receive it, to be honored. That is relationship with our maker. To be loved. Love is, above all the greatest commandment and it never fails.

Help me to see..

Pink and purple hews fill the sky as the sun peaks over the mountians. The smell of salt fills the air and as the cool water tickles my toes a smile creeps on my lips. The wind plays with my hair and I feel as free as a bird. The water looks like diamonds. How can anything be more beautiful? I can't look in the mirror and think I am worthy of any sort of comparison. God said humans are His best creation...take a longer look next time you're in front of your mirror, what would God say about you?

Egypt

Well, it's been a while since I've updated everyone and let them know how things are going for me here on my DTS. I made it to England : ) It was so amazing. Lecture fase looked like this for me....Ever morning we would start the day off with some worship and prayer which would be followed by our lecture for the day. Each week was a different topic. Some of the topics were; Spiritual warefare, Father heart of God, World view, and Communication. I was blessed with amazing speakers on each topic. Each week I found myslef walking away with things I would apply to the rest of my life and I learnt something new about myslef and God almost everyday. My team is amazing and I don't think I could have gone through this with any other group of people. ( We have nine girls and two boys ) We would then move onto and have an awesome lunch made by Mamma K :) and then move onto to work duties. I was on wash-up each day. It really was not what I would have picked for myself and the soap and water ruined my nails...but it wasn't so bad. The night usually was filled with some team activities or preparation for outreach.

Currently I am in a city named Helwan which is about half an hour from the heart of Cairo. Since being here we have done quit a few different things. So far some of the things we've done are; visiting a girls orphanage, playing with the kids on the streets near the place we are living, attending and speaking at many different churches, prayer walks, worship in parks, and trying to meet people and make friends. It really has been challenging for me. The culture is completley different and it has really tested my patience and taught me a lot about myslef. During the day here the streets are pretty quiet..but at night people come out of nowhere and the streets are filled with vendors and fruit stands! If you ever visit Egypt, watch out for the drivers :)

So, we have three more weeks here and I am really looking forwward to what God has planned for us...I really believe it is going to be something big. We will be leaving for Alexandria within the next few days. We don't really know what lies ahead for us and we are really praying for guidence from God. I am not very good at keeping my blog updated and I felt a bit convicted because of all the people that supported me in getting here probably want to know how I am doing. :) So i'm going to try and keep myself accountable and keep this updated regularly. Thank you for your support, thank you for your prayers.

<3

Things you can pray for:

-For me to be open to the Holy Spirit for guidence

-Patience and endurance for the rest of the outreach

-Joy to fill the the days of my team and I

-I have a rash, pray for healing of that

Thank you!!

Youth With A Mission

Hello everyone!! My name is Alexa. I am 19 years old. Currently, in my life, I am trying to raise about 4,000 dollars to attend a DTS (Discipleship Training School) with the organization YWAM (Youth With A Mission). If your a friend of mine you probably already know this : ] Just in case your not, let me tell you a little about what I'll be doing.

YWAM is an international movement of Christians from many denominations dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world. YWAM has people form many nationalities form all over the world. They call it a family of ministries. YWAM's passion is to make God known to others and to follow Him every step of the way. I feel God has called me to do a DTS in Sussex, England. The start of the DTS is April 17, 2010. I currently have about 1200 dollars saved. I need for people to give and for people to pray for God to provide. If you feel led to help PLEASE do!!! Thank you all!! God Bless You!!

(209)408-7514

ablevins3@hotmail.com